Brussels is the cradle of contemporary European art and hosts more than 18,000 cultural events every year. Today we propose a tour of 6 of the most interesting contemporary art venues in the city.
Art is one of the biggest drivers of change in society. It may not be as evident as in other fields, but history shows us that this discipline, together with social, political or environmental issues, is capable of gradually transforming the world. Often when we visit exhibitions we are moved; there is something that touches our soul, especially when a problem becomes evident. Whether in a photograph, a painting, a performance, an installation, visual culture has this power.
That’s why today we want to extend the gaze of contemporary creativity and talk about 6 unusual contemporary art venues in Brussels, one of Europe’s most culturally rich cities.
Brussels has more than 30 art centres and 80 galleries dedicated specifically to contemporary art. And every year it hosts 18,000 cultural events and happenings. Upcoming highlights include the Brussels Gallery Weekend (September), the Art on paper fair (early October), the renowned art and antiques fair Brafa (January 2025), which commemorates its 70th anniversary, and the reopening of the Ixelles Museum and the Jewish Museum, also in 2025.
Even so, today we would like to propose this tour of 6 of the most interesting and architecturally stunning places to visit:
Botanique: the former botanical garden turned into a cultural centre
Botanique is a former botanical garden transformed into an elegant cultural centre in the heart of Brussels.
Botanique‘s exhibitions reflect current artistic creation, and in the last 5 years the programme has been oriented towards the emerging art of the FWB (The Wallonia-Brussels Federation).
Editorial credit: Hofmann.
The space has 3 exhibition rooms:
- La Galerie: the ‘white cube’ of the cultural centre, where mainly exhibitions of young artists are programmed.
- Museum: the main exhibition hall and a large foyer with wrought-iron balconies. Throughout the year, it hosts the first major institutional exhibition of several FWB artists. The space also hosts a more international exhibition once a year.
- Since September 2023, the newly renovated greenhouses of the Botanique are filled with works of art, enhanced by aquatic elements and plant species. These greenhouses welcome young artists. The media of interest include sculpture, ceramics, textiles and digital arts.
The cultural centre also organises a music festival between April and May, Les Nuits Botanique.
Bozar – Centre for Fine Arts: an art deco building for the arts
Bozar is a welcoming and dynamic arts centre that provides a platform for artists from Belgium and around the world. It is housed in an art deco building designed by Victor Horta and hosts visual arts, music, film and performance.
Editorial credit: Bozar.
The project is supported by two strands:
- Bozar transforms to sustain: a space where artists, audiences and the entire Bozar team are driven by the transformative power of art, as this is a space for ethical, demographic, democratic and ecological change.
- Bozar inhales and inspires: a kind of laboratory where the possibilities of positive change for society are experimented with.
In addition, an exhibition about Chatal Akerman can be visited until 21 July.
Centrale for contemporary art: the public at the centre of the debate
This is the centre for contemporary art in Brussels. Every year it organises exhibitions with established and emerging artists from Brussels and abroad. The programme includes shows, concerts, art film screenings, meetings, talks and much more.
Editorial credit: Centrale Brussels.
The public is at the heart of the project: each person, school group, association or family can discover a work or activity tailored to their needs: a guided tour, a workshop, participation in a creation…
Since April 2024 Centrale has been undergoing renovation, and in October, on the occasion of its reopening, it produces the hosting exhibition presented as a great boot of curiosities. It is based on a call for artists from various generations and disciplines.
La Loge: art with a critical view of current problems
Editorial credit: Lola Pertsowsky.
A space dedicated to contemporary art, architecture and theory whose aim is to develop a critical programme that is in touch with the reality that surrounds it. It does so by developing a more nuanced vision of current cultural and social problems.
Another highlight of La Loge is the building, a former Masonic and modernist temple from the 1930s.
Currently you can visit the exhibition La huaca llora, by Louidgi Beltrame, an artist who carries out research work in Peru. This has led him to experiment with the geoglyphs of Nazca, or to film the practice of the healer José Levis Picón Saguma.
The exhibition explores huaquería, which is clandestine excavation understood as a form of resistance to colonisation and the imposition of a rational reading of the world.
MIMA – The Millennium Iconoclast Museum of Art: the history of culture 2.0
Editorial credit: MIMA Brussels.
The MIMA is a contemporary art museum that explores the history of the 2.0 culture that emerged at the turn of the millennium.
The works on display cover disciplines as diverse as music culture (punk rock, electro, hip hop, folk), graphics (graphics, illustration, design), sports (skateboarding, surfing, extreme sports), art (film, visual arts, performance…) and urban (graffiti or street art).
WIELS: a cultural centre housed in a former brewery
Editorial credit: Giaime Meloni.
One of Europe’s leading contemporary art institutions, WIELS presents temporary exhibitions by national and international, emerging and established artists. It also offers international artist residencies, a community-oriented educational programme and complementary activities.
WIELS is housed in a former brewery, and even today the building retains elements reminiscent of its industrial past. A good example is the café and bookshop, with a recently renovated interior.
In autumn, the centre will host exhibitions by Portuguese artist Ana Jotta and Christopher Kulendran Thomas, as well as the film A Night We Held Between by Noor Abed, winner of the Han Nefkens Foundation-Fundació Antoni Tàpies 2022 video art production grant. Also a performance by Moya Michael.
